Welcome to the Palomar Orchid Society Website!

The Palomar Orchid Society, incorporated in December of 1965 was formed when a few people banded together to talk about orchids. We then grew and bloomed into the roughly 200-member group of orchid enthusiasts that we have today. We represent everything orchid in North San Diego County! Come and join us!!

The Palomar Orchid Society is a non-profit organization dedicated to promoting the understanding and cultivation of both hybrid and species orchids. We welcome members of all levels to join us for orchid fun and learning! Our mission is to promote interest in the appreciation of orchids and to provide an opportunity for their display and the exchange and dissemination of information relating to their culture.

Ron ParsonsWe are happy to welcome back Ron Parsons to our society. Ron will be speaking on the Orchids of Sichuan, China. In June of 2012, Ron was fortunate enough to attend a tour in the province of Sichuan, China led by the late Holger Perner and his wife, Wenqing to see Cypripediums and other native orchids in habitat. They traveled through the northern reaches of the province, seeing some of the most spectacular scenery and wildflowers Ron has ever seen. They visited two World Heritage Sites of such natural beauty, and traveled through different ethnic regions (although most of the people in this area are Tibetan), and the tour of six visitors had a truly incredible adventure. Ron had such a fantastic time that he joined the tour for a second visit in 2013! He will be describing his experiences from the trip and show us many beautiful pics of orchids he observed during his visit. Read more »

Peter LinWe are delighted to welcome back Peter T. Lin to our society. Peter is one of our favorite speakers who will be talking about the Genus Dendrobium. He will present a fast paced PowerPoint presentation on this fascinating genus of over 1000 species! The title of his presentation is "Genus Dendrobium: a Family Portrait of Dendrobium Species"

Dendrobiums are primarily found in Asia, New Guinea and Australia. There are many different classifications within the genus, with species ranging from tiny miniatures to huge giants. They grow in climates ranging from hot and steamy lowlands, cool and moist mountain ranges, to seasonally dry savannas. Many are quite temperature tolerant and can be grown outside in frost-free areas. Peter will review a few of the important species in each classification. He will provide some basic cultural advice for each species, and there will be time for questions at the end of the program.

Peter started growing orchids over 35 years ago, but then stopped due to school and starting a career. It wasn't until about 14 years ago that the orchid "bug" came back and he is now heavily involved once again. He is an accredited judge with the American Orchid Society and a hybridizer of mini-catts. He enjoys meeting with other orchid enthusiasts, and can often be found at various orchid shows and societies around the country. He also has hundreds of photos of his orchids that he maintains on Flickr. Read more »

Curtis Gean (left), relocating orchids in MexicoWe are delighted to welcome to our society Curtis Gean of Sierra Vista Orchids, Sanger, CA. Curtis will speak on ‘Laelia anceps – the Color Forms and Their Influence on Hybridizing’. He will address the various results when using L. anceps as a parent. Curtis will answer your questions and provide the plant opportunity table with emphasis on the topic of his talk. He also will have a few plants for sale. As a small quiz, Curtis has included a pic of L. anceps along with two anceps hybrids, Hybrid 1 and Hybrid 2. Attendees should try to figure out what the other parent is, which will be revealed during his talk. Curtis is a shared speaker with SDCOS and will be presenting a talk on ‘Hybridizing with Oncidium lecuochilum and Baptistonia echinata’ on Tuesday, August 1 in Balboa Park. All are welcome to attend.

Curtis is a semi-retired photographer/videographer that has had a long time interest in orchids. After dabbling in hybrid roses, he was introduced to orchids in 1970 because of his need to use some plants and flowers in a photo shoot. The gentleman that provided his introduction was Homer C. Dodson, who later became his mentor. Read more »

Gil HoWe are delighted to welcome back former POS President Dr. Gil Ho. Gil will be speaking about Stanhopeas, epiphytic orchids originating from Central and South America. The title of his presentation is "The Hybrids of Stanhopeas: Mixing it Up!"

Stanhopea is an unusual and interesting genus of very fragrant orchids comprised of 66 species and an increasing number of hybrids. Gil will review briefly Stanhopea orchids in general and then discuss in detail the thinking behind Stanhopea hybrids and their wonderful varieties, followed by an introduction of creative intergeneric hybrids with Stanhopeas and related genera. This should be an informative and fun talk!

Dr. Gil Ho is a practicing neurologist and has been growing orchids for enjoyment for many years and has a special interest in Stanhopeas, Lycastes, Paphiopedilum, although he grows a little of nearly every orchid genera. He has been active with orchids over the last 15 years and loves the chance to pass on his orchid interests and experiences to others.

This month’s plant table will be supplied by Alex Nadzan and will include a few of his own cattleya hybrids.

Tim CulbertsonPOS is pleased to welcome Tim Culbertson who will be sharing his presentation on “Laelia purpurata, the Queen of the Cattleyas”. Although large, these spectacular cattleyas grow well outside in Southern California, and with their myriad colors and a relatively unique blooming time, these are great plants for every collection, extending the blooming times in the Cattleya Alliance through July. With more and more Laelia purpurata clones and seedlings coming in from Brazil, and large grexes being bred in the United States, these stately, magnificent plants have seen a resurgence in popularity of late, and with good reason! By the end of this presentation, you will have a new appreciation of the range of color forms of Laelia purpurata and its hybrids, as well as an appreciation of their beautiful flowers and ease-of-growth. Tim will be providing a plant table of outdoor growing cattleyas, including many plants of Laelia purpurata in bud. He also will have additional plants for sale Read more »